Apparatus for desiccating eggs.



A. FULLERTON.

APPARATUS FOR DESIGOATING EGGS. APPLICATION FILED JUI IE 3, 1908.916,138, Patented Mar. 23, 1909.

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A. FULLERTON.

APPARATUS FOR DESIGCATING EGGS.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1908. 916,138. Patented Mar.23, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 W M N w faogfa 25111300 M-toz J Patented Mar. 23, 1909.

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A FULLERTON APPARATUS FOR DESIGGATING EGGS.

APPLICATION FILED mm: 3, 1908.

W ilmy; M 606 3513i aflo'cmm j U specification.

UNITED STATES PATENT oniuon.

ALBERT FULLERTON, OF, SIOUX CITY, IOWA, ASSIGN ORTO NATIONAL BAKERS EGG(30., OF

' SIOUX CITY, IOWA, A (ORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

APPARATUS FOR DESIGGATING- EGGS.

Application filed June 3, 1908. Serial No. 436,836.

v Sioux City, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa, have inventedcertain new -andpuseful Improvements in A paratus' for Desiccatmg Eggs,of which the 0 lowing is a This invention relates to an improvedapparatus for desiccating eggs in an effective and continuous manner andobtainin the desiccated eggs in the form of light akes ready-fonstorage,shipment and immediate use by bakers, confectioners and others; and forthis purfpose the invention consists of an apparatus. or desiccatingeggs which comprises an endless carrier for the egg batter,

wheels or drums, over which the carrier is stretched and to whichmotlonis imparted, a

2.0 feed trough, one side of which is open and provided; a canvasretaining-fie a rjushdevicefor distributing the. film 0 egg batteruniformly over the surface of the carrier, ascraper located below thefeed-trou h 2.5 for removing the dry film of e g from t e surface of thecarrier or belt, rollers for supporting the upper and lower run of thecar.- rier or belt intermediately between the drums, chambers providedwith nozzles for 130 su' plyingheated air to the surface of the be t,and suction air-ducts or chambers for removing the moisture evaporatedfronithe film-of e g and conducting the same to the outside 0 theapparatus as will appear from 7 85 the following description and claims.

' In the accompan 'ng drawings, 1 igure 1 represents a vertica lonitudinal section of my improved apparatus or desiccating eggs,

Fi 2 is an enlarged portion of the carrier or be t, showing the sitionof the egg'feeding trough and. brush-spreader, drawn on a larger scale;Fig. 3 is an end-elevation of the feed-trough showing its relation withthe egg butter supplytank, Fig. 4 is a perspec tive view of t 1efeed-trough shown as removed from the carrier or belt and showing theYielding retainer at the bottom and ends of t iesame; Fig. 5 is a planview of the brush-spreader and feed-trough; Figs. 6 and -7 arerespectively a plan-view and a vertical transverse section on line 7, 7,Fig. 6, of the vscraper fol-removing the dried egg from theSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 23, 1909.

carrier-belt, Fig. 8 is a detail side-view of one of the roller shafts,showing the roller carriers for the body and edges of the belt, and Fig.9 is a guide-roller for guiding the belt on the uncovered side of thesame.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral figures.

The improved apparatus for desiccating eggs consists of the followingmain parts:

An endless carrier or belt, drums for supporting the same, a feed-troughlocated about midway of the starting end of the apparatus, a spreaderfor the film of egg located above the teed-trough, a scraper located atthe return- )ortion of the belt below the feedtrough, rollercarriers forsupporting and guiding the belt, air-ducts for supplying the heated airprovided with nozzles ior throwin the heated air at regular intervals onthe be t, and a suction air-duct through which the moisture laden air isconducted away from the apparatus.

The carrier-belt b is made of metal, preferably zinc, and is guided overtwo wheels or drums a, the shafts of which are supported in bearings onthe framework of the apparatus, one of the drums receiving motion from asuitable motor, so as to impart intermittent or continuous motion to theendless carrier-belt b. The belt is made of sufliciont length so as toproduce the drying of a film of'egg batter by one passage of the samebelow the air-ducts c from which the air is supplied by means ofinclined nozzles 0 so as to deliver the heated air at regular intervalsin jets on to the moving belt and suply thereby fresh, heated air overthe entire ength of the same. The air-chambers c are arranged at the topand bottom of the apparatus and supplied with pure iiltered air heatedby steam-coils or other means so as to raise the tem )erature of the airto the proper degree. The heated air is led into the air-chambers c bymeans of horizontal ducts c communicating with air-chambers at one end,as shown in Fig. 1. The carrierbelt passes through a suction-chamber orduet e, which is located at the upper part be- -c, as shown in Fig. 1.The secondary or suction air-duct e is connected with a suitableventilating fan (not shown) so as to cause a suction-draft through theair-duct 0r chamber 6 and through the upright portions e of the sameadjacent to the drums a. The metallic belt is guided at the edges bymeans of hardwood rollers f which are pro vided with shoulders f andacross the entire width of the upper run by solid rollers while thelower run is supported on dis f having narrow faces so that only a smallportion of the lower run of the belt rests on the same. The uppersolidrollers f and the lower disks f 3 support the belt in uniform manner inits ppper and lower runs while passing through the air-chambers e andprevent the sagging or buckling of the belt. The belt is supported inhorizontal osition throughout and may be made of any ength, preferably,however, of such a length that one complete rotation of the belt iscapable of drying one film of egg batter supplied to the same from thefeed-trough.

By arranging two systems of air-chambers or ducts c, superimposed overeach other, a

supply and a suction-chamber for the upper and lover runs of the belt, acontinuous'supply of fresh air can be thrown on the filmcovered surfaceof the belt throughout itsentire length and the evaporated'moi'sturedrawn oil continuously therefrom. The

heated air is emitted through the nozzles of the air-ducts withconsiderable force so as to facilitate and accelerate thereby theprocess of drying the film.

The feed-trough g is supported at one end of the apparatus on aninclined shelf 9 which is supported on the uprights of the apparatus andis made of sheet-metal, preferably zinc. The trough is provided with aninclined bottom, which rests on the shelf, and with upright endwalls,but is open at the side adjacent to the belt. 0 the forward ends of thebottom and endwalls of the feedtrough is attached by exterior strips 9and bolts 9 a canvas-retainer g, which is made slightly higher than theendwalls and which projects beyond the edge of the sheet-metal bottom,forming a continuation of same, the feed-trough being placed in such amanner relatively to the beit, when in position, that the rapid upwardmovement of the belt upon the drum causes'the moist canvas-retainer,

to lie flat upon and cling closely to the mes v,tinuojus runs.

belt and lying against the latter keep the egg batter from getting ontothe belt at'the extreme edges of same, so that the width of the.

recessed portion of the canvas-retainer governs the width of the eggfilm upon the belt.

' The egg batter, which is formed of a properly stirre mixture of eggs,isplaced in a receiver T, which is provided with a discharge-spout 15having a stopcock F, as shown in Fig. 3.

The receiver 1' is supported on a bracket on the framework of theapparatus and filled either from time totime or supplied continuouslyfrom a larger receptacle, according as the belt is to make intermittentor con- The liquid egg in the feedtroug'h presses against the canvasface or flap of the retainer, so that the edge of the same forms closecontact-with the belt and prevents thereby the escape of any of the'quid egg in a downward irection. As the level of the liquid egg in thetrou h is considerably higher than the inner edge of the canvas flapofthe retainer, the liquid egg rises above the edge of the same andflows directly onto the beltsurface, (except at the extreme sides wherethe flap rises above the egg. surface) by which it is carried upward ina thick film or coating until it arrives at a spreading dGVlCGft, whichis placed above the feed-trough at some "distance from the. same.

. The spreadin device'i is made of a number of brushes i which arearranged in line across the belt. Each brush is provided with a shanki?whichis hinged to a'transverse strip 6. that is attached to thesupporting uprights of the apparatus. The hinge-connection of theshank'i with the'trans'verse strip 01 permits each brush to move indeendently of the adjacent brushes and yiel thereby freely to anyinequalities in the belt. The brushes serve to spread the egg in a'verythin film over the belt "s'oa's to produce thereby the rapid dryingof the same; The Weight of. the brushes used determines the thickness ofthe film' which the belt will take up at each rotation, so that in thismanner: each successive film or coat can be regulated to the thicknessdesired. or heaviehbrushes, the same effect can be obtained by placingdpieces of metalor other ifierent weights across heavy material of thespreading brushes.

The scra er'h is arranged at some distance below the eed trough incontact with there- In place of using lighterbetween the supportingplates k by means of v slots -at the, center of the same and uprightguide-pins-fh Helical s rings h are interposed between the rearlock heldbetween the plates h and the rear-ends of the scrapers, the ends of saidhelical springs'bein set securely in recesses in the faces of the biockand in the rear-portions of the beveled scrapersections. 'lhe individualsprings serve for cushioning the scrapers, anc impart thereby anindividual motion to the same so that they hug the belt with their sharpedges, but yield readily as re uired for overcoming any in-' sto cock ofthe supply-spout is adjusted in sue a manner that a reduced butcontinuous supply is kept up to the feed-trough for forming a continuousfilm on the belt. This film which is thus transferred from thefeedtroiwh to the surface of the belt is uite thick and heavy. As thebelt passes slow the spreading brushes, the surplus of the egg rops backinto the trough while a thin uniform layer is conducted through thebrushes and distributed over the surface of the belt and then conductedthrough the hot air-ducts pas. the no'zzles for the heated air, so thatthe moisture from the film of eg is radually evaporated and the latterdried by t e heated air supplied through the nozzles onto theegg-covered surface of the belt. The air W 1011 is laden with moistureevaporated from the film of egg, is conducted oil through the suctionair-ducts. As the belt returns over the drum at the op osite end of theapparatus, it is taken up y the carrier-disksi arranged in the lowersuction air-duct an acted upon by the heated air delivered by thesupply-nozzles arranged in the lower air-duct of the apparatus until thebelt leaves the chamber e, where it passes under a guideroller 12 backto the drum at the ingoing end and to the scrapers located below thefeedtrough. As the film on the lower run of the belt 18 of a certaindegree of dryness and hardness no tracks or traces are formed on thesurface of the iilm by contact with the carrier-disks f 'lhe scraper his so arranged that it can be adjusted toward or away from the beltaccordin as one film or a plurality of superimposed films is desired tobe laced on. the belt. This adjustment can be ei ected by the belt andslot connection b shown in Fig. 6, or any suitable construction. Whenthe belt is of suflicient length so as to dry one film of eggby onerotation of the same, the egg is removed-by the scraper at each run, butin case continuous working of the apparatus is desired, then a pluralityof films is su erimposed on the belt, one above the ot er, and thenscraped oil together by placing the scrapers in position against thebelt. The dried egg is peeled oil in the form of flakes and packed in asuitable manner for.

shipment and use.

ll'aving thus described my invention I claim as-new and desireto'se'cureby Letters Patent: 1

1; In apparatus for desiccating eggs, the

combination of a horizontally-disposell endless drying belt, means forsu plying the eg -batter thereto, hot-air cham ers located respectivelyabove and below the upper and lower runs of said belt, nozzles arrangedin series located longitudinally of the belt to impinge the air fromsaid chambers against the outer surface of the belt, and asuctionchamber located between said runs of the belt within the latterand which receives the moistened air after its action on the egg-film.

2. In apparatus for desiccating eggs, the combination of ahorizontally-disposed endless drying belt, hot-air chambers locatedrespectively above and below the up or and lower runs of said belt andhaving 1n their walls nozzles to direct the drying air against theegg-film on the belt, and a suction-chamber between the runs of the beltand in communication by means of said nozzles with both of said hot-airchambers, said suctionchamber having portions extending adjacent theinner surface, of the belt opposite the nozzles and an upright portionextending from one run of the belt to the other and connecting saidfirst-named portions.

3. In an apparatus for desiccatin eg s, the combination, with an endlessbe t, o a feed-trough open at one side and havin said side adjacent thebelt, a retainer formed of a flat sheet of flexible fabric applied tothe bottom of said trough at the edge adjacent said open portion, themain portion of said retainer lying upon and clinging to the belt, andend-flaps on said retainer which lie flat on the belt and extend abovethe level of the batter in the trough.

4. In an apparatus for desiccatin eg s, the combination, with an endlessheft, o a feed-trough open at one side and having said side adjacent thebelt, a retainer formed of a flat sheet of'fiexible fabric applied tothe bottom of said trough at the edge adjacent said bpen portion, saidretainer lying upon and clinging to the belt, end-llaps on said retainerwhich lie flat on the belt and extend above the level of the batter inthe trough, and upright end-walls formed at the ends of said end-flapsand extending upward at the sides of the belt, said end-walls beingconnected with the end-walls of the trough.

5. An apparatus for desiccating eggs, comprising a traveling belt, afeed-trough in operative relation thereto, and film-spreading brusheslocated above the feed-trough, said brushes being hinged independentlyof each other, for assing freely over the inequalities of the lielt.

6. An apparatus for desicceting eggs, In testimony, that I claim theforegoingcomprising an endless treveling belt, a feedas my invention, 1have signed my name in trough 1n operative relatlon thereto,spreadpresence of two subscribing Witnesses ing brushes above saidfeed-trough, and a ALBERT FULLERTON. 5 scraper below said feed-trough,said scraper Witnesses:

being composed of individual spring-cush- 2 PAUL GOEPEL,

ioned sections. HE RY J. SUHRBIER.

